John French and Wyatt Triumphant in the Platinum Performance USHJA Green Hunter Incentive Championship

The Walnut Ring welcomed back the most established, professional hunter riders on Thursday morning to vie for the win in the Platinum Performance USHJA Green Hunter Incentive Championship 3’0” to 3’3” and 3’6” to 3’9” sections. The Green Hunter 3’0” and 3’3” came back for round three to ride for the tri-color, while the 3’6” and 3’9” horse-and-athlete combinations entered for their first round of competition. Bobby Murphy (USA) set a course that allowed the riders to accentuate their horse’s style and scope to impress the panel of three judges.

John French and Wyatt succeeded with great mastery to earn the first tri-color of the week in the Platinum Performance USHJA Green Hunter Incentive Championship 3’0” and 3’3” section.

French piloted Susan Moriconi’s, Wyatt, the 7-year-old warmblood gelding, to scores of 86 points, 88 points, and 91 points to total 265 points, overtaking Tosh’s high score and granting them an early lead in the class by a margin of 5 points.

From The Winner’s Circle - John French

On being back for the Green Incentive:
“It is great to be back. It is a great class to have 100 + horses and young horses where everyone is aspiring to have as their next superstar. It is really nice to see the quality of the horses here.”

On Wyatt:
“The first day he was a bit tense and then he was fourth. I knew he had it in him. Today I took him out in the field because I didn’t want him to be too bored doing it three days in a row and I think it definitely paid off. His owner, Susan Moriconi, moved to me at the beginning of Florida this year. He had been recently imported so I started him in the first year. He was a bit green to put straight in the first year even though I knew he had the jump and the scope. He needed to be hunterized a little bit so I backed him down before I did too many shows. I thought that this would be my goal, to get him ready for this class.”

On the Green Incentive and prize money:
“It is nice to see some money going to the hunters since it always goes to the jumpers with all of the grand prixs. To see it put into the hunters helps to get owners interested in buying them and really bringing them along. To have this class makes people want to buy them young and bring them along. If we didn’t have this by the time they got to bigger classes they would already have so much money in them.”

Source: Phelps Sports